Alligator fever: The Bears just love to eat it, and as...

November 20, 1985|By Skip Myslenski & Linda Kay.

Alligator fever: The Bears just love to eat it, and as word of their passion spreads, alligator may become as popular with the yuppie crowd as pasta. It`ll be on the menu when the Fond de la Tour in Oak Brook opens its doors to all Monday night football junkies for the Bears-Dolphins game Dec. 2. So far the restaurant has received 80 reservations with 50 more available. At $20 a pop, no wonder they`re going so quickly. Not only will alligator be among the exotic offerings, but there`ll also be dolphin, otherwise known as mahi-mahi, imported from Hawaii (sorry Miami). Moreover, there`ll be champagne and caviar and--lest we forget--the game on a big-screen TV. We wonder: Will bear meat soon be a staple in our diets?

Opportunity knocks

Mary Lou Retton does it. So does Michael Jordan. Now watch William Perry become the newest celeb to tout McDonald`s for a considerable amount of bread (and we don`t mean the fattening variety). Mickey D`s and ``the Fridge``

started the makings of a long relationship Monday night when Perry began filming a commercial for McD.L.T.s at the McDonald`s in the Apparel Mart. Filming continued Tuesday at a McDonald`s in Skokie, where Perry was joined by teammates Dan Hampton, Steve McMichael and Dave Duerson. The spot will air nationally during the Bears-Dolphins game Dec. 2 (if not a few days before), and apparently, that`s only a start. A big deal is in the works, but then what else would you expect for the Fridge?

Sail away

There are seven racing syndicates in the U.S. that want to try and regain the America`s Cup from Australia. The effort is proving a costly one, however. So costly that officials of the New York Yacht Club`s America II syndicate recently made merger offers to Chicago`s Heart of America Challenge--and were turned down. ``There was conversation that it would be a cooperative effort between the two,`` confirmed skipper Buddy Melges from British Columbia, Canada, where he`s racing Chicago`s developmental boat, Clipper, before sailing for Perth, Australia, next month. ``As I see it, now we have no more or no less money to raise than the New York Yacht Club. Right now the flow is in our favor. I really feel that to merge with anyone would be foolish.``

As Melges tells it, Chicago`s budget for the effort is $7 million. New York`s is $14. That`s because Chicago is using only one developmental boat, while New York plans on using three. Though Chicago officials are still $1 million short of their goal (they need the money to begin constructing their racing boat in January), a direct-mail solicitation campaign is in the works. Says Melges: ``What I see happening is more of Chicago becoming aware of just what impact the Challenge can have here (if it wins the America`s Cup).``

Racing publications now rank Chicago third behind New York and Dennis Connor`s San Diego syndicate, Sail America, and from the looks of things, Chicago could move up a notch a two.

News, notes and nonsense

We`ve got word that chess king Garri Kasparov will stage a rematch with Anatoly Karpov in February, and his visit to the U.S. with the Soviet chess team in January will apparently serve as a tune-up. Officials with the U.S. Chess Federation have entitled Kasparov`s challenge here ``the Summit Match.`` . . . Nice gesture: David Burns` Sports Celebrity Service, which does a lot of work with Joe Theismann, called the Redskins Tuesday morning to ask where flowers could be sent to the injured quarterback. It was told that Theismann, who suffered a career-threatening compound fracture of his right leg in Monday night`s victory over the New York Giants, requested that all donations go to the Children`s Hospital of the National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. . . . Two-time New York Marathon winner Orlando Pizzolato got a hero`s welcome when he returned to his native Italy, where he was given a gold star studded with diamonds (and worth about $8,000) on live television. The award goes to those who increase national esteem. . . . Adidas unveils a $22 million international advertising campaign in the London Sunday Times next week with a photo of U.S. Open tennis champion Ivan Lendl running against a surrealistic sky. A spokesman said the sky will be the common element in every ad and is intended to present a ``classic, leader-like image`` and hint at the first Olympics held in Greece. Whew! . . . The elusive Tito Horford, the talented 7- foot freshman center from the Dominican Republic who was kicked off the Louisiana State team earlier this month, was gone all eight of the weekends he spent as a student at LSU. Our source says he spent one weekend in New York, two in Washington, D.C., three in Houston and the others in a local hotel, and paid zip for his travel and accommodations.

And finally: Save the date. Mark your calendar. That`s what the invitation says, but we`re not sure whether the Chicago Honey Bears Super Bowl `86 Party at McCormick Place Jan. 26 will be a celebration or a wake. Somehow, we don`t think it`ll be too much fun.